Guest Opinion: The public agrees: It's time to get 'smart' on Mass. crime

Thursday

May 15, 2014 at 5:01 PM

Criminal justice reform is an idea whose time has come in Massachusetts. Last year, MassINC, together with a coalition of prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement and correction officials, and other public safety experts made the case that Massachusetts is spending too much keeping too many in prison, with far too little to show for it. Now we know that Massachusetts residents agree as well.

Ben FormanMassINC

Criminal justice reform is an idea whose time has come in Massachusetts. Last year, MassINC, together with a coalition of prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement and correction officials, and other public safety experts made the case that Massachusetts is spending too much keeping too many in prison, with far too little to show for it. Now we know that Massachusetts residents agree as well.

Last week, the non-partisan MassINC Polling Group released the final report on an extensive research project on public opinion in Massachusetts. They found that Bay Staters are ready to reform a criminal justice system they see as ineffective at their top priorities: preventing crime and rehabilitating criminals. They support reforms that have worked in other states. And while saving money is important, the bottom line for residents is having a system that works, regardless of the cost. On almost every aspect of the criminal justice system, public opinion is in sync with the actual data about how the system is doing.

Prisons: Both the experts and the public agree that we have too many inmates in Massachusetts prisons. Since the 1980s, the percentage of the state’s population behind bars has tripled. The public thinks this is a problem — two-thirds (67 percent) would rather reform the system to send fewer people to prison, instead of building more prisons (26 percent).

Reentry and Recidivism: One reason the public wants to reduce prison populations is that they see time in prison as counterproductive for many offenders. Three in five (59 percent) think that former inmates are more likely to commit new crimes because they have been hardened by the experience in prison. The latest recidivism figures suggest this concern is warranted: 60 percent of prisoners exiting Massachusetts state and county facilities in 2005 committed new offenses within six years.

To combat this problem, experts recommend more programming to prepare inmates for life outside prison. For example, nearly all (88 percent) of residents think that providing job training for prisoners would be effective at reducing crime.

Sentencing and Parole: Much of the growth in prison populations is driven by law requiring offenders be sentenced to mandatory minimum terms for certain crimes.

Often these sentences prevent an effective period of parole, meaning inmates are released into the community without supervision. In 2011, half of inmates released from the Department of Correction received no supervision.

That’s not what the public wants. More than half (53 percent) think that post-release supervision is very effective in reducing crime. And only 11 percent favor mandatory minimum sentences; the vast majority prefer that judges have some form of discretion to decide how offenders are sentenced.

High-Release Areas: MassINC’s 2013 report found that 10 urban communities, including Fall River and New Bedford, endure half the state’s violent crimes and receive half of offenders returning from prison. We took care to capture the opinions of these communities in the polling, and we found that they are just as enthusiastic about reforming the criminal justice system as residents elsewhere.

Overall, opinion in Massachusetts matches closely with recent polls conducted nationally and in other states, which have shown a willingness to reform the criminal justice system. Other states, including “red” states like Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas have already taken steps to reduce their prison populations, saving money and cutting crime in the process.

There is movement on the national level as well. Last month, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced new guidelines for granting clemency to non-violent drug offenders. And last week the National Research Council released a major report concluding that “the nation should revise current criminal justice policies to significantly reduce imprisonment rates.”

We first released these findings at an event with Gov. Deval Patrick in February. The governor took the opportunity to announce a 5-year plan to reduce recidivism by 50 percent. This is a welcome first step, but it will be up to the next governor to decide whether Massachusetts will adopt the kinds of reforms being adopted nationally and in other states. Public opinion is ready for reform; the question is, are our elected leaders ready as well?